Constitutional Confusion

As I sit in the classroom waiting for Bryan to be done with his Monday evening class so we can go home for the day, I stare blankly at the decorations that have recently been surreptitiously added to the wall next to the doorway. Beginning this fall semester, NAU (or is it the state of Arizona?) has mandated that every classroom must display an American flag and a copy of the United States Constitution on the wall for all to see.

What does this mean? Are we to somehow feel a sudden swelling of love for America, a nation that is a hostile presence in other countries? A nation about which I can't even begin to list all the reasons why I'm embarrassed to call myself by its nationality? What were the people who decided all classrooms needed this American "paraphanilia" thinking? Is it some Big Brother type tactic to remind us all of our patriotic duties? Because it sure doesn't remind me of my rights as an American citizen (the Bill of Rights is proudly emblazoned in the centre of the copy of the Constitution); rather it reminds me of the rigidity of the original structure of our government.

These symbols do not fill me with pride for our country. Placed in our classroom passively and aggressively, they are a not-so-friendly reminder that dissent against the government, against the war, against President Bush's will that the poorer children of this nation not recieve health care at reasonable costs is ill-advised.